


Dangerous Affection

by one_am



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drowning, M/M, mermaid, merman, this is gonna get dark be prepared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-03 17:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15823863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_am/pseuds/one_am
Summary: Donghun finally started working at his dream job. Everything seems to be perfect, his coworker is nice, and he even started making friends with one of the merman, who likes him maybe just a bit too much...





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advantage for any awkward phrasing or mistakes, English isn't my first language and it also has been a while since I wrote.
> 
> Still, I hope you enjoy this fanfic. ^^

Finally no more training, finally the real deal. Donghun tried to hide his excitement and concentrate as he followed his supervisor. For quite some time already they were wandering around in the corridors which made up the inside of the aquarium and were only used by the personal. He could smell the water and hear the rumble of the machines which kept the tanks working and the fish alive.  
His supervisor, a middle-aged man with wrinkles around his eyes, gave a small explanation whenever they passed a door which lead to another section of the aquarium. After another corner they finally reached the doors with the inscription he had been waiting for, 'Merfolk'. His supervisor pushed the door to his left open which was labelled with   
'Merfolk — Mermen, no female workers allowed'.  
The smell of seawater became stronger and Donghun curiously looked around while his supervisor talked to another man. Shortly after he turned to Donghun, “You're gonna be under Mr. Kims care from now on. I wish you a pleasant first day...”, with that said he turned around and left him alone with said Mr. Kim.   
Slightly flustered he bowed and introduced himself, “ Nice to meet you, my name is Lee Donghun.”   
Mr. Kim, who seemed to be only a bit older than himself, nodded and smiled in return, “I'm sorry to disappoint you but you won't be jumping right in action with our lovely trio. I thinks its best if I put you together with our other trainee, he's been here for two weeks and knows the facility quite well now, so if you wanna know something go ahead and ask him. He is about the same age as you I think...you should get long well.” he said as he stared to walk, which made Donghun quickly follow him.  
They passed through another door and entered a room, no it was more of a hall, with what looked like a giant pool surrounded by a fence, but was actually the upper part of the tank. A tall boy was wiping the floor around it.  
“Chan! Your co-worker is here. Show him where the cleaning stuff is and let him help you.”  
Chan? Donghun frowned. Could this be...?   
Just before he could start to wonder, Mr. Kim patted him on the shoulder and left with a 'see you later'. Great, he got pushed of to the next person.   
Sighing he repeated his words from before “Nice to meet you, my name is Lee Dongh-...” midway he got interrupted.  
“It really is you! I was so excited after Mr. Kim told me your name! I wasn't sure if you were you, you know? 'cause you're not the only person with that name, but on the other hand what are the chances that-”.   
“Chan, please don't forget to breath.” Donghun couldn't help but grin at the hyper reaction of the younger. He had been right with his guess, his co-worker was indeed Kang Yuchan. They first met at the training facility where they learned how to deal with mermen. He didn't think he would see him again.  
After a bit of small talk, of what they've been up to Chan handed him the cleaning equipment and showed him the section he would take care of.   
“With your help were gonna finish a lot faster!”, he grinned and went back to cleaning his part of the floor.

After scrubbing the floor for about half an hour Donghun got slightly frustrated, resting his head on top of his hands which were holding the mop, he blankly stared into the water of the pool. All he had seen of the mermen until know were the posters promoting them around the aquarium and the shimmer of some scales under the water surface.   
“Don't worry feeding time is soon, then you will see them.” Chan said, who suddenly had appeared behind him almost giving him a heart attack. Somewhat embarrassed for getting caught staring he could only nod. Hopefully he wouldn't have to wait too long.

Another thirty minutes later they finished cleaning the hall.   
He didn't want to sound like he was bragging but his section was perfectly clean, with not even a water spot on the tiles. Feeling happy he returned the utensils back and went to prepare the food for the merman with Chan.  
In contrast to the common believe mermen and mermaids don't only eat fish. Seashells, crabs, squid and a lot more stand on their dining plan, some reports even say they were seen hunting small sharks.  
Shortly after they returned with two buckets of food. With his free hand Chan pulled out a small bell from his pocket and rang it. Smiling he turned to the older one, “And now we wait...it shouldn't take long.”  
Getting excited Donghun stared at the water, just a moment after Chan rang the bell a shadow could be seen under the surface and soon after a head with black hair broke through it.  
A second later two more heads came through, right next to each other one blond and one black haired. He watched as Chan opened the door of the fence surrounding the pool and stepped closer to the edge. Rattling the bucket he tried to convince the mermen to come closer, “Don't worry about hyung, he looks a bit scary, but he is nice...also you have to start getting used to him, because he works here now!”   
He pulled out two fish, swinging them above the water. Still eyeing Donghun with suspicion one of the merman came closer and pushed himself out of the water, he retreated as soon as he grabbed both fish. He swam back to the blond merman and disappeared with him under water.  
Chan chuckled. “They always do that. One grabs the food then they both dive off, just to show up for more. The blond one with the sky blue tail is called Byeongkwan and the others name is Sehyoon. Personaly I like to call him Wow, because that's what everyone says when say first see him! A merman with a white fin is pretty rare.”  
As he talked he walked over to the remaining merman who had come closer to the edge. He put the bucket down and took a few steps back, leaving the creature some space.  
“This one is called Junhee, he likes to eat outside the water, but you can't hand-feed him cause he likes to bite. What also kind of interferes with his training...”  
Donghun watched mesmerized as Junhee pulled himself out of the water, waterdrops running down his body as he sat down on the side of the pool. His fin was coloured in a deep red with black sprinkles all over, matching the colour of his hair.  
He looked a bit disinterested as he peeked into the bucket, picking out some fish and throwing them away with a disgusted look. Donghun chuckled, it had been some time since he saw a merman this close and to that such a beautiful one, but his behaviour seemed to be the complete opposite of his looks.  
Startled by his chuckle Junhees head snapped in his direction, black large eyes stared at him. After what seemed like minutes, but were probably just seconds he turned away and continued searching the bucket.  
Donghun was still watching him as Chan fed the other two again and returned with the empty bucket. A slight pat on the shoulder tore him from his thoughts, after another short look he followed Chan back to the kitchen to clean up.

Once they were done Chan asked Mr. Kim, who was sitting in his office and scribbling down on something, if he could show Donghun around a bit more.  
“Sure, go ahead. Please go to the storeroom after that and bring me things on here.”, he handed them the list he had been writing on. Chan gave an enthusiastic 'alright', grabbed Donghun by the wrist and pulled him out   
They left the staff-only zone, entering the visitor area. Now he could see the aquarium in its full glory, he looked at the giant glass wall stretching from the ground to the ceiling, behind it a beautiful coral reef and in between the three merman.  
Sehyoon and Byeongkwan were swimming around wildly, chasing each other.  
Ignoring both of them Junhee lay resting on a large stone, fiddling with a small shell, until Byeongkwan made a sharp turn directly next to him, knocking the shell out of his hands and stirring sand up in his face.  
In a flash Junhee was up and chasing after the smaller who was still trying to catch Sehyoon, Donghun couldn't help but smile as he watched the mix of blue, red and white.  
Chan nudged him in the side, “You're gonna see more than enough of them in the future. Take a look at the mermaids! Its kinda sad that we can't work with them right? But I guess I don't wanna get drowned...”.  
Donghun gazed over to the tank of the mermaids, four lovely, bright coloured individuals were slowly swimming around, their hair gracefully flowing behind them. They were beautiful, no question, but his gaze shifted back to the merman with the red fin, who was still playing around with his companions.


	2. Two

It had already been three months since he started working at the aquarium, it didn't feel as long. and nothing much out of the ordinary had happened.  
He got a bit closer to the mermen, especially Junhee. They weren't cautious around him anymore, at one of the training sessions he even got what looked like a high five from Byeongkwan.  
One day while he was scrubbing the floor and got lost in his thoughts he quietly started singing, attracting the attention of not only Junhee but all three of them. As response, he got some excited chirping and clicking noises.  
Since that day Junhee seemed to be especially fond of him, always lingering around at the surface when Donghun was present. Chan teased him, saying he should be glad he wasn't a female, or he would lie on the ground of the tank by now.  
Donghun didn't know how to feel about this, after all the only reason why no female workers were allowed around the mermen and vice versa was, because the merfolk liked to pull persons they liked with them, to the bottom of the ocean.  
That was also the reason why there were no outside shows, to high was the risk of a fascinated visitor who would get to close. You can't really separate the audience by gender after all. So the shows were held inside the tank, with the crowd watching through the thick layer of glass while the trainers gave commands from above and in front of it.  
However, Donghun tried not to worry too much, because in the end he had never heard of a case where a same sex human got killed.

Currently he was pushing a cart with merman food, which meant tons of fish and other seafood, partially still alive and partially frozen.  
Chan was right behind him pushing another cart, “How is the training progressing?” the younger one asked.  
“Pretty good I would say. Junhee doesn't bite me any more and Sehyoon is only ignoring half of my commands now.”  
“Lucky you. They may listen to me, but if I get to close to Junhee he still snaps at me. Last time he barley missed my sleeve.” he said pouting.  
His words made Donghun smirk, in the beginning it hadn't been any different for him.  
It made him wonder if Junhee had some kind of trauma or if he just liked biting and scaring people in general.  
They arrived in the kitchen and started to unload the fish to put everything in its place. Just as Donghun was dumping a bucket full of live crabs into a small tank Mr. Kim opened the door. “Donghun, I think I could use some help. Junhee scraped his arm while playing and its bleeding quite bad. We should clean the wound, but I don't want to lose a finger while doing so.” he said. Donghun grimaced, he already started feeling unwell only by the thought of blood, but there was no other way. He put the bucket down and rushed after his chief.  
Mr. Kim had already brought out a first aid kit, after handing it to Donghun he opened the door of the fence for him.  
Donghun put the first aid kit down and pulled the bell out of his pocket to ring it. He didn't have to wait long until three heads popped through the water.  
“Junhee, come here.” he softly called out while patting on the ground next to him. The merman came closer and Donghun could see the red threads of blood lingering around his right arm, he tried to remind himself that the water probably made it look worse, but he couldn't help worrying.  
After another encouraging pat next to him, Junhee pulled himself out of the water and sat on the edge, pitch-black eyes looking expectant into his.  
Tearing his gaze away he tried to focus and inspected the wound, the scratch already looked a lot better outside of the water, but Donghun could make out some small pieces of what seemed to be rock fragments in the wound. He would have to take these out.  
Pulling himself together and ignoring the uneasy feeling in his stomach he took the tweezers out of the kit and slowly reached for Junhees arm.  
His skin felt wet and cold at first touch, however the longer they made contact the more Donghun could feel the warmth beneath the skin. He tried to ignore how human Junhees arm felt, how human he looked overall if you ignored the gills on his neck and the fragile looking dorsal fin that started between his shoulder blades and went down his back, connecting with his fin.  
Pushing the thoughts away for now he carefully started to clean the wound, trying to make it as painless as possible.  
After he pulled out the last piece he thought about putting on some disinfectant but stopped as he didn't want to startle Junhee with the sharp burn that would come with it, the seawater would probably help the best anyway.  
He let go of the mermans arm and gave him a smile, ”So, all finished. Thanks for not moving.”  
He got a soft clicking as an answer and watched as Junhee let himself glide in the water and disappeared with the other two.  
As he cleaned the tweezers and put the things he had taken out back in the first aid kit he heard a small splash and turned around to find Junhee on the verge of the pool again, his stretched out hands full of seashells.  
“Are these..for me?” Donghun put his hands beneath Junhees, catching the shells as he let them fall out of his.  
“Thank you...” he gave a small chuckle as he looked upon the shells in his hands. “Be careful not to get hurt again!” Donghun said as he lightly patted Junhees head which got him another sequence of happy chirping noises.

Since that day, he started to receive seashells from Junhee almost on a daily basis. Soon his locker and his desk at home were full of them, but he didn't dislike it, he felt special, being the only one to receive these little presents.  
Today was one of the days were he voluntary stayed late, to be honest it had become a habit.  
At the moment he was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the water, throwing a small ball at Junhee He sighed and put the ball down as it landed again in his hands, “You really don't get tired, huh?”  
Realizing that the ball wouldn't return Junhee stared at Donghun, “Oh come on don't look so disappointed, we've been playing for half an hour already!”  
Trying to lift the mermans mood he pulled out a small pack of dried fruit,”Come here, you like this sweet stuff right?” he said, rustling with the package.  
Forgetting the unreturned ball at once, Junhee swam up to him holding out his hand.  
Grinning, Donghun placed some fruits in his hand and watched as he tore them apart with his sharp teeth.  
“Whoa there, did they murder your family or anything? Why do you have so much hate inside of you?” he laughed as he kept watching him.  
While he was still nibbling on his first piece, Junhee had already devoured a handful of the fruits and was now impatiently looking at him, waiting for the next portion. Donghun amused rolled his eyes, but just as he wanted to grab some more fruits from the bag Junhee decided he had waited long enough. Fast, he pushed himself out of the water and snatched the fruit piece directly from Donghuns mouth.  
Donghun froze and stared at him, their lips barely touched, but he still could feel himself blushing.  
“What the heck....”  
Only then he noticed that his pants where drenched from the wave Junhee created with his sudden movement. He groaned and stood up, “Now I have to change again!”  
The merman looked like he regretted his action as he watched Donghun close the door of the fence, leaving him alone.  
Donghun on the other hand tried to convince himself that he wasn't running away as he rushed to his locker.


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that the update took a bit longer, but I fell sick and hat to get my laptop repaired <.<
> 
> Still I hope you enjoy the last chapter :)
> 
> Also: Trigger Warning/ Drowning

He didn't start to avoid Junhee, because he told himself to get rid of his feelings he had to confront them. So he continued his normal routine, telling himself he shouldn't ruin his life because of some stupid crush on a merman, who didn't even have any feelings for him.  
He just had to keep in mind that the merman with the beautiful smile only saw him as his source of food. Nothing more. So he quickly should forget about how cute he looked when he frowned while concentrating, how his eyes sparkled when he was happy, how his skin felt against his, how-  
“I can't believe that some people eat them.”Chan interrupted his thoughts.  
They were both sitting in front of the glass, watching the mermen. The aquarium had closed for the day, so they were the only ones there. Chans gaze was fixed on the pair of friends who were resting next to each other between the corals.  
“I mean, wouldn't you get creeped out? They are similar to us in some aspects right?...but I guess there are all kinds of people.”  
He turned to Donghun, “Anyway...You have been behaving a bit strange recently. I can't put my finger on it, but...something about you seems different. Is everything alright?”  
“...Yes, I guess I'm just wondering if this is really what I want to do for the rest of my life..”  
“What do you mean? Didn't you say this was your dream since High school?”  
“Well, yeah, but...ahhh...I don't know any more!”Donghun ran his fingers through his brown hair, leaving it sticking out in every direction.  
How should he explain too Chan that he started to dislike seeing Junhee behind that glass, in that tank. It seemed to small for such a marvellous creature, wrong for him to be stuck in that small thing. Shouldn't he be free instead, roaming the sea?  
But what could he do about it? He didn't have the money or the power to help any of them. He could just watch, and he didn't know for how long he was prepared to do that.  
Chan was watching him as he fought with himself, looking like he wanted to say something, but holding back.  
Eventually the younger one sighed and patted his back, “I've got to go. Not everyone can stay overtime like you always do.” after a pause he added, ”If....you want to talk about...anything, I'm here to listen to you.”  
Donghun nodded and smiled in return, he looked after the tall boy, but shifted his gaze back to the aquarium as soon as he was left alone.  
He met eyes with Junhee who had be watching him from behind the glass. The merman gave a sharp-teethed grin as he got Donghuns attention. He started to swim around again while Donghun followed him with his eyes. He sat there and kept watching him for hours.

The next day he stayed longer again, the late hours had become his safe zone where he didn't have to worry about getting caught admiring Junhee.  
As always he was sitting at the edge of the pool, he didn't know if he trusted Junhee enough or if he was just being reckless, but he had his feet hanging in the water. The merman had brought up some seashells and was placing them neatly next to each other on the edge of the pool.  
“If you're going to keep picking up every shell then it won't take long until the tank is empty, you know?” he said and poked Junhee with his foot.  
The merman half-heartedly grabbed onto his leg and gave it a light pull before letting go. He focused and went back on putting the shells in line, it took a bit but after some time he finally seemed to be satisfied. His proud gaze shifted to Donghun looking for praise for the obvious amazing thing he just did, but the human was focused on the small waves he created with his feet.  
Not at all happy with the lacking attention, he gave an upset sequence of chirping noises and placed his head, together with his arms on Donghuns lap.  
Surprised by his abrupt action and the sudden contact between them Donghun froze for a moment.  
“...You know if you were a human I'm pretty sure this would count as sexual harassment...” he said, trying to make his heart calm down, looking everywhere except at the merman on his lap.  
His plan was working quite well until Junhee decided to nuzzle his head against his stomach, making him laugh and pay attention to the body before him.  
He let his eyes wander over the mermans supposedly petite body, knowing well that under the fair skin strong muscles were lying.  
Donghun couldn't hold back any more and gently touched a strand of the pitch-black hair, letting his fingers wander along the line of Junhees neck, tracing along the thin dorsal fin on his back.  
“You're so beautiful...how can something this pretty exist..?”  
He kept on gently petting his head while his eyes were wandering over every single centimetre of the gorgeous being in-front of him.  
Realizing that his plan to ignore his feelings wasn't working so well he let out a frustrated sigh, “What am I supposed to do now?...How can I tell anyone that I fell in love with a merman?! Everyone is going to think that I'm crazy!” he felt tears dwell up in his eyes.  
“I can't even believe it myself....just why am I behaving so stupid?” he kept on rambling as he wiped his tears away.  
Donghun noticed that Junhee wasn't lying on his lap anymore, but instead was observing him face to face, he forced a smile, “I'm okay, don't worry. I just...need to work this out somehow...somehow this has to work, right?”  
He noticed that his thoughts started to get complicated again and did the only thing that would distract him now, “Lend me your shoulder a bit.” he said as he put his arms around Junhee, who after a short pause returned the human gesture.  
They stayed like this for quite some time, until Donghun couldn't feel his feet, which were still hanging in the cold water, anymore. As he let his arms sink and gently pushed Junhee away, who had been quietly chirping in his ear through the hug, he felt a bit lighter than before, the bad thoughts had been pushed away for now and what was left was the feeling of Junhee in his arms.  
“Thanks...” he said as he pulled his legs out of the water, “I think I should get going now...maybe get a little sleep before my mind falls into chaos again.”  
Junhee watched as the human stood up and stretched himself, he watched as he dried his legs with the towel he had brought, and he watched him as he closed the door of the fence and left.  
Again he was left alone. Why couldn't they stay together all the time?, the merman thought to himself.

Chan had the day off, so he was alone the next morning. The time seemed to pass slower today, with one of the reasons probably being that he was so damn tired. Although he had tried to go straight to bed as he arrived home his worries still had managed to keep him awake for some more hours.  
He helped Mr.Kim with the reorder lists of the mermen food and went on to clean around the pool. Before he had his break he fed the mermen which were already waiting for him. Donghun didn't know if it was just in his head, but the mermen looked like they had grown apart, Junhee didn't interact with the others as much as before. He hoped it wasn't his fault.  
The day went on slowly and it seemed to take forever for Mr.Kim to finally finish his shift, leaving Donghun alone.  
As he walked past the pool, he thought he caught Junhee starring at him, but as he turned to look again the surface was empty without any waves. Confused he opened the door of the fence and looked at the water. Normally Junhee would wait for him until he finished his work and came to the pool.  
Trying to see something through the reflecting surface he squatted next to the edge and attempted to see something different from himself in the water.  
Suddenly Junhees head broke through the surface directly beneath him, the merman literally shot out of the water, wrapped his arms around Donghuns neck and pressed his cold but soft lips against his.  
Donghun could feel how the blood rushed to his head, as he tried to make sense of Junhees behaviour.  
Was this normal mermen behaviour? Or did he copy it from somewhere?  
A Thousand thoughts run through his head, but it wasn't easy to concentrate while Junhee was excited chirping in his ear and still hanging around his neck.  
He gave himself a light clap on the cheek to concentrate and wanted to pull Junhees arms off, so that he could sit properly again, but the merman had other plans. With a strong tug he pulled Donghun to him into the water.  
For a second his air got cut of which left him coughing as he emerged from the water. Almost forgetting about the kiss he turned to Junhee and angrily stared at him.  
“Now you even got my shoes wet!...Oh no! I think I had my phone in my pocket!”, he tried to swim to the edge to pull himself out, but got stopped by Junhees hand around his wrist.  
All of a sudden he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.  
“Junhee, let go.”  
The merman pouted and pulled him further away from the edge, further away from the door. Donghun tried to remain calm but could feel himself get more and more nervous.  
“I said let go. I'm not gonna leave alright? I will stay with you!”  
Junhee suddenly smiled, exposing his sharp teeth, he made some happy chirping noises and Donghun started to relax a bit, until the merman suddenly started to dive, pulling the human with him.  
He felt the water close above his head and barely managed to hold his breath as he got pulled to the ground of the meter-deep tank. Donghun still could hear Junhees call, it sounded more melodic under water, more like a song instead of just random noises. He knew the merman didn't mean him any harm, however that didn't change anything about his limited source of air.  
He tried to break free from Junhees grip, but he was way too strong for him and the struggling only costed him valuable energy.  
As his vision started to get blurry the urge to breath became stronger. In the end he couldn't help but open his mouth and breath in the cold water, it made him cough and which brought in only more water into his lungs. His chest started to cramp at the attempt of pushing out the water and he could feel how he tarted to lose consciousness.  
Still, he couldn't help but worry about the merman who was drowning him. What would happen to him when he died? Would he be seen as a threat to all humans? What would they do to him? How would he react when he realized Donghun wouldn't come back again?  
These desperate thoughts were the last he had before he fainted and closed his eyes forever.  
Unaware of the disaster that had just happened Junhee continued to cheerfully show him his shell collections.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be thinking about writing a happy ending version...if anyone wants to read that.


End file.
